How did the NFL Draft's Top 50 Prospects Rank as Recruits?

Author:
Athlon Sports
Apr 27, 2015 9:00 AM EDT

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Years before the top picks were eligible for the draft, they were top recruits — or at least most of them — entering the collegiate ranks.

Below is a list of the star rankings, national rankings and position rankings of the top 50 prospects from the Athlon Sports 2015 NFL Draft preview magazine. Many like to argue that recruiting rankings don't matter, however, the data below further proves that rankings are an accurate indicator of future NFL success.

All rankings according to 247Sports.com. Nat'l = national ranking regardless of position, Pos. = national ranking by position.* - junior college prospect

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	Name	Pos	Team	Class	Stars	Nat'l	Pos.	HS POS
1	Jameis Winston	QB		2012	5	15	1	D-QB
2	Leonard Williams	DT		2012	4	50	3	SDE
3	Marcus Mariota	QB		2011	3	513	22	D-QB
4	Amari Cooper	WR		2012	4	46	6	WR
5	Shane Ray	DE		2011	3	385	15	WDE
6	Randy Gregory	DE		2011	3	1,180	55	WDE
7	Andrus Peat	OT		2012	5	30	4	OT
8	La'El Collins	OT		2011	5	3	2	OT
9	Ereck Flowers	OT		2012	4	157	17	OT
10	Mario Edwards Jr.	DE		2012	5	2	1	SDE
11	Melvin Gordon	RB		2012	4	258	22	RB
12	Kevin White*	WR		2013	3*	136	23	WR
13	Danny Shelton	DT		2011	3	331	23	DT
14	Trae Waynes	CB		2011	3	1,143	88	S
15	Malcom Brown	DT		2012	5	9	2	DT
16	Landon Collins	S		2012	5	7	2	RB
17	Brandon Scherff	OT		2010	3	579	40	OT
18	Dante Fowler	OLB		2012	4	36	6	WDE
19	Eddie Goldman	DT		2012	5	10	3	DT
20	DeVante Parker	WR		2011	3	311	47	WR
21	Jaelen Strong*	WR		2013	3*	32	9	WR
22	Cameron Erving	OT		2010	3	804	68	DT
23	Jake Fisher	OT		2011	3	354	41	OT
24	Shaq Thompson	LB		2012	5	4	1	S
25	Alvin Dupree	DE		2011	3	806	46	TE
26	Arik Armstead	DE		2012	5	14	1	SDE
27	Maxx Williams	TE		2012	3	1,038	52	TE
28	Eli Harold	DE		2012	4	44	7	WDE
29	P.J. Williams	CB		2012	4	118	8	S
30	Vic Beasley	OLB		2010	3	483	22	TE
31	Carl Davis	DT		2010	3	838	70	DT
32	Benardrick McKinney	LB		2011	3	912	49	ATH
33	Marcus Peters	CB		2011	3	509	37	CB
34	Sammie Coates	WR		2011	3	352	51	WR
35	Nate Orchard	DE		2011	3	832	104	WR
36	Todd Gurley	RB		2012	4	74	7	S
37	Tevin Coleman	RB		2012	3	730	42	RB
38	A.J. Cann	OG		2010	4	134	3	C
39	Rob Havenstein	OT		2010	3	667	33	OG
40	Hau'oli Kikaha	LB		2010	3	880	42	SDE
41	Max Valles	OLB		2012	3	997	73	ATH
42	T.J. Clemmings	OT		2010	4	177	15	SDE
43	Devin Smith	WR		2011	3	327	49	WR
44	Tre' Jackson	OG		2011	3	1,223	83	DT
45	Markus Golden*	DE		2012	3*	69	5	ILB
46	Grady Jarrett	DT		2011	3	1,131	76	DT
47	Lorenzo Mauldin	LB		2011	3	926	58	SDE
48	Quinten Rollins**	CB		2010	3	324	62	PG
49	Cody Prewitt	S		2011	3	403	20	ATH
50	Cedric Ogbuehi	OT		2010	4	119	15	OT

** - Quinten Rollins' rankings are actually basketball rankings as he wasn't a football player coming into college.

What we learned:

* Nine of the top 30 prospects were five-star recruits. In any one given class, there are roughly 30 five-stars. Basically, you have a 1-in-3 chance of becoming a top-30 prospect if you are a five-star recruit.

* 15 of the top 30 prospects were ranked in the top 10 nationally at their position coming out of high school.

* 20 of the top 50 prospects were four- or five-star recruits and ranked in the top 300 nationally. This group makes up roughly the top 10 percent (roughly 400 of 4,000) of any given recruiting class, but comprises almost 40 percent of the top 50 NFL prospects.

* Three players were junior college transfers and not a single two-star prospect was ranked as a top 50 NFL prospect.